9th Circ. Judge Won't Exit Gay Marriage Appeal

Law360, New York (December 2, 2010, 8:02 PM EST) -- A federal appeals judge has declined to recuse himself from hearing a closely watched case over whether to uphold a lower court decision legalizing same-sex marriages in California.

Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Thursday knocked down a request that he sit out the appeal because he is married to Ramona Ripston, the former executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, an agency that has come out against the same-sex marriage ban, Proposition 8....